Month: September 2011

The way to a man’s heart is his stomach. When that man is a prepper, and a blogger, nothing could be more true. With that said, I was overjoyed recently when I was contacted by one of our local freeze-dried companies. They were wondering if I would be interested in sampling a couple of their entrees, and writing my opinion on them. Not exactly a difficult decision there.

Over the past year, I have noticed an increased interest in raising chickens arising all over the nation. Locally, KSL has published several articles recently about this phenomenon (see below) as has the Wall Street Journal (also below) and most prepper blogs. My family started keeping backyard chickens about four years ago and have had some good success. In this article we’ll summarize some of the benefits to raising chickens, what you’ll need to get started and some links to resources to help you out once you’ve got your flock.

I was recently perusing Utah Valley University’s web site and found an interesting course on Gold Prospecting offered through the Community Continuing Education program. Given the current high price of gold and the fact that here in Utah we really don’t need to travel far to try finding it, this seems like a great course for a Utah Prepper.

Course Information

GOLD PROSPECTING FOR FUN OR PROFIT

Only 5 percent of the world’s gold has been discovered. With gold currently trading at over $1500 an ounce, panning for gold has made a real comeback. Learn new methods of panning gold that you can use 12 months of the year. Fee includes prospecting equipment you take home with you. No early registration discount. CEUs: 0.15 Hours: 1.50

At $39 this seems like a bargain for an evening of instruction on what could be a fun and profitable hobby. Here is a Link to the course. I hope to see you there!

Yesterday I was driving in my truck to pick up my son from school. I heard a strange noise outside the truck and rolled down the window to investigate. I could hear a hissing that rhythmically got quiet as I drove – then I realized, my left rear tire was punctured and deflating FAST! I pulled over to the shoulder as far as I could and got out to investigate. Sure enough, there was what looked like a nail hole right through my nice new tire.

Walking along the book aisle in Costco the other day, I came to a rather sudden stop as a specific book caught my eye. With a name like The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers, can you blame me? This was obviously a book stocked for a local audience, so I hope our non-Utah readers can find a copy. Author Caleb Warnock is a local (Alpine, Utah) writer, year-round gardener, and teacher of “Forgotten Skills” classes. It also helped when I noticed one of the people listed in the special thanks section is a friend of mine, and local sci-fi author (how’s that for a tight-knit Utah Valley). Also at only $11 or so, any tidbit that might help will likely pay dividends well over the purchase price of the book.

This book also stood out to me, because I often wonder *how* my family managed to get enough food to live. My mom’s side of the family was that oft-discussed “hearty pioneer stock”. However I have noticed that while many farmed to live, I have a long history of blacksmiths and military. There is no hiding that this must be because I inherited a really lousy black-thumb, they took up other trades because of this family curse. I’m one of those people who has to work really hard to make part of his garden succeed. I enjoy blaming my heritage on this, as it cannot be some failing of my own, right? So I felt driven to read this book, and find out how they managed to live, despite my inability to grow enough of the right foods in the wasteland of Utah.